For those of you that have had the good fortune to see all three sites, how would you rate them? If I were to skip Palmyra during an upcoming trip to the region (6 weeks in Iran, Syria, Jordan), would I be making a big mistake? I'm concerned about over scheduling myself, and since it appears to be a 5-hour trip from either Aleppo or Damascus and I really only have 2 days to squeeze it in. I'm on the fence about how much of a "must see" it is given that I'm planning to see the other two.

I should also mention that squeezing in Palmyra means giving up a 2-day side trip to Beirut which I would also hate to miss.

I've seen all three and would rank them as follows - Petra, Persepolis, and then Palmyra. (Definitely Palmyra last!)

Although it's been a few years since I was at Palmyra (2006 I think), it's really not five hours from Damascus - it's an easy 3 hour comfortable bus ride if I'm remembering correctly.

I spent almost three weeks in syria and it was the one thing I would have been fine skipping, so don't kill yourself to get there! I'd spend the extra time exploring Damascus or Aleppo or areas around there (so much to see in Syria!)

oh wait - I see you would skip Beirut! don't do this!!! I only had a few days in Beirut myself but there is so much history there - and you could easily make a side trip to Byblos which is charming.
My advice is to go to Beirut and skip Palmyra - I wouldn't think twice about doing this. (Although I realize some people just love Palmyra, I had more than one local in Syria ask me why the heck I was traipsing out to Palmyra).

out of curiosity are you arranging this yourself? sounds like a great trip and hope you'll keep us posted.

We were in Petra four years ago. If we had more time, I probably would have spent more time there simply soaking in its magnificence. (At my age, my body starts hurting after so many hours walking.) It's something I will treasure for the remainder of my life. While in Jordan, we also went to Jerash and Sardot. Jerash is an incredible Roman ruin; much bigger and better preserved than Bet Shian in Israel. Sardot is a Crusader castle which is being slowly excavated. It's in pretty good shapw, not to far off the highway, and worth seeing. No tourists or souvenirs.